Short Stay at the Long Course

6 May 2005

Eric, Thor and maybe Sean were going to attend the Double Regional at VIR.  The added attraction was the use of the “Masters Course” which added about a mile of cross over pavement of the North and South courses.  This made a lap of VIR at 4.2 miles and had a gazillion turns.  Not wishing to trek to Daytona for the National (and being treated poorly by the NASCAR security Nazis) and since I had finished the fiberglass repairs from being hit in the left rear corner at Summit, I decided to play.  Eric and Thor went for the practice day to learn the new configuration.  I did not.  Sean got immersed in rebuilding his home deck, and couldn’t find time to get his car ready.  He did show up along with Sammy, his 5-year-old daughter, to help on Saturday.  I was long gone by then.

I arrived Thursday afternoon with Qualifying scheduled for Friday (races on Saturday and Sunday).  Eric and Thor briefed me on the new section.  It was tight and relatively narrow.  There was one particularly dastardly corner.  You climb a hill to a totally blind turn.  The North course turns right there and the pavement sorta bends in that direction.  Surprise, surprise you don’t turn right and you can’t see what is to follow which are some esses starting left.  Slow. 

Ed Dickinson, taking the long drive up from Tampa, arrived Thursday night with his new Speads FS car.  He had never been to VIR so would have to learn all 30 or so corners.  Deep end.  He would learn quickly and would have better lap times in the races than the FSCCA, FM and FC cars. 

I was camping out in my trailer was entertained by heavy rain Thursday night.  Qualifying day was dry, thank god.  I went out a followed a couple of very slow FMs for a couple of laps.  I couldn’t stand it any longer and passed them.  Car was handling beautifully on the sections of VIR I knew.  I was beginning to go fast.  As I came to the dastardly corner, a FC was getting it wrong and was crossed up.  I had to take a wide line to avoid him and hit the apex curb and straight lined the next turn.  My splitter dug in and folded the right side of the nose under the wheel.  No more steering.  Fiberglass damage was extensive and I was done.  I should have been more cautious.  Damn. 

Thor would win the first race in his aging Swift FA.  Eric would lead the big 12 car FSCCA field for the first 3 laps until he got taken out by a spinning FM car, which T-boned him ass end first, heavily damaging the side pod and destroying the radiator.  Sean and Eric spent hours piecing the side pod back together and he re-plumbed to use only the right side radiator.  In the Sunday race, Thor hurt his motor and retired.  Eric had another adventure.  While enjoying a big lead in FSCCA, his engine cover came adrift, first flapping in the breeze, then totally dislodging and getting stuck in the rear wind.  He said the lack of downforce was considerable as well as the drag.  He, of course, was slowed and ended up 3^rd in FSCCA.  (More fiberglass repairs for me.)